"Until recently, I wasn't aware how completely books dominate my
physical existence. Only when I started cataloging my possessions did I realize
that there are books in every room in my house, 1,340 in all. My obliviousness
to this fact has an obvious explanation: I am of Irish descent, and to the
Irish, books are as natural and inevitable a feature of the landscape as sand
is to Tuaregs or sand traps are to the frat boys at Myrtle Beach.... When the
English stormed the Emerald Isle in the 17th century, they took everything that
was worth taking and burned everything else. Thereafter, the Irish had no land,
no money, no future. That left them with words, and words became books, and
books, ingeniously coupled with music and alcohol, enabled the Irish to
transcend reality."
-- from One For The Books by Joe Queenan
1 comment:
I had not seen this entry before, John. Books, telling stories and songs are, and have always been, the center of Celtic culture.
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